Super Smash Bros. E3 2014 Video: Invitational Tournament Highlights

At E3, Nintendo hosted the Super Smash Bros. Invitational, giving us our first look at high-level play in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The most exciting moments of the event have been compiled into a highlight video posted on Nintendo’s YouTube page.

The 16-player tournament, the first for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, featured highly-skilled players of the series battling it out in four-person fights. Geoff Keighley hosted the event, hyping up the already fever-pitch crowd by introducing series creator Masahiro Sakurai. Once Sakurai kicked off the tournament, the fists flew, providing some explosive moments.

We got to see Kirby use his Final Smash to clear the board, knocking all three of his opponents off the side of the map. After the already-reported Mega Man's Final Smash, we got a look at Greninja’s Final Smash, which is reminiscent of Spider-Man’s Maximum Spider Hyper-Combo from the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

In the final battle, player Gonzalo Barrios used Zero Suit Samus to eke out a victory over Kirby. Both characters were at 300% damage, and the timer had already run down to zero. The excited Barrios was rewarded for his efforts with a trophy presentation by Reggie Fils-Aime.

Nintendo has stated that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is not 100% complete yet, so getting a chance to watch some of the world’s best players kick the tires should help the developer fine-tune the product. For everyone else in attendance, it was a high-energy event that thrilled viewers and helped hype up one of 2014’s biggest releases.